Receptacle



E. ANDERSON Nov. I3, 1951 RECEPTACLE Filed Jan. 24 1946 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Nov. 13,` 1951 2,574,683 REcEP'rAcLE Emil Anderson, Briarcliff Manor, N. Y., assigner .to Electrolux Corporation,

Old Greenwich,

Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application January 24, 1946, Serial No. 643,157

2 Claims. (Cl. 183-51) This invention relates to receptacles and is particularly concerned with dust receptacles for suction cleaners and the mounting and attaching means therefore together with the structural features of the cleaner which cooperate with the dust receptacle.

The present application is an improvement over the inventions disclosed in the earlier filed copending application of Arnold H. Beede, Serial No. 587,756, filed April 11, 1945 (Patent 2,547,805, dated April 3, 1951), and the application of William Traska, Serial No. 608,181, led August 1,

- 1945 (Patent 2,4993 99, dated March 7, 1950) and is designed to meet the same problems therein discussed and thus partakes of the same objects and advantages therein set down. Suflice it therefore to say that the invention relates to dust bags for vacuum cleaners and the manner of attachment and more particularly to selfclosing dust bags, preferably disposable porous bags of paper or the like which are retained in position when in use by the action of the selfclosing construction.

Each of the above referred to prior inventions provides a dust bag, the mouth of which is normally closed by a pair of cooperating leaf springs which, when the bag of the prior devices is not in operating position, lie substantially parallel and thus through attachment with the bag mouth normally retain the mouth closed.

In operating position Within the cleaner, the iiexibility of the leaf springs is such that they act to secure the open mouthed bag in position and sealed to the inlet tube of the front cover of a vacuum cleaner. In this manner, the invention provides for the removal of the bag from the cleaner by and with removal of the front cover and further provides for automatic closing of the bag when it is withdrawn from its resilient engagement with the cover. Obvious advantages in ease of manipulation and cleanliness in handling are thus achieved.

In the present invention a like security of sealing is achieved by the use of resilient material such as rubber to which the porous receptacle is secured, the rubber being provided with normally closed slits and being deformable to receive therethrough the air inlet portion of the cover and by its resiliency it Will sealingly engage such cover and will secure the bag to the cover. Obvious advantages of economy in manufacture may be achieved by the simplicity of the present construction. The present invention is also concerned with other novel and improved structural features and advantages.

Accordingly it is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel and improved bag closure and bag securing means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a receptacle which embodies mouth opening tabs for improving the facility of manipulation thereof.

Numerous other objects of the present invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view partly in section showing the bag of the present invention as applied to a conventional type of suction cleaner;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view looking toward the front of the bag when applied as in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the bag of Fig. 2 detached and with the mouth closed;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the inside of a bag mouth formed in accordance with a modification of the present invention, and

Fig. 5 is an external view of the bag mouth shown in Fig. 4 when in detached position.

Referring now to the drawings, numeral I0 indicates a suction cleaner housing, within Which is located a conventional motor-fan unit I I, and a conventional dust separating cloth bag I2 and a paper dust bag I3 of the present invention located Within the cloth bag I2. The motor-fan unit produces the flow of air from left to right through the casing I0 as shown in Fig. 1, drawing air through a, flexible hose I4 connecting in the inlet opening of the front cover I5. When the machine is in operation air enters the casing I Il with entrained dust and dirt removed from the rug or other surface being cleaned. The dust and dirt is separated from the air as it passes through the paper bag I3 and the clean air flows through the cloth bag I2 and out through the rear end of the housing I0. As noted in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the cloth bag I2 is secured to the housing I0 by engagement with a gasket I1 mounted between the housing I0 and the front cover I5. The paper receptacle I3, however, is secured on the front cover I5 independently of the housing I0 by engagement with a square inlet tube I8 associated with the suction opening. The inlet tube I8 as here shown is of rectangular cross-section, but as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 a circular tube may be employed with a modification of the bag mouth to conform therewith.

The bag body I3 which is preferably formed of porous paper or other like inexpensive material is preferably rectangular in cross-section, its forward edges I9 being folded over and secured as self-closing mouth conforming in coniiguration with the tube i8 and the aperture of the cardboard 2i by the provision of Wings 23 formed by parallel transverse cuts 24 and a vertical cut 25. Each Wing is also provided with-a manipulating tab 28 by which the Wings may be opened outwardly as indicated in Fig.` 2 to permit application or the bag to the tube to which it is frictionally secured by the resilient pressure of the wings against the sides, thereof and/or the frictional engagement o the tube by the walls of the aperture or the cardboard 2i. With the bag thus secured to the tube it will be sealed in position thereon during the cleaning operation and in some instances will continue to be secured thereon when the cover i is removed so that the bag may be conveniently removed from the cleaner by removal ci the cover. When the dirt is to be disposed of, the bag mouth is withdrawn from its irictional engagement with the tube and the Wings 23 by virtue of their resiliency and integral connection with the surrounding portions of the piece 29 Will fold into the plane of the mouth body to automatically close the bag and permit its disposal without discharge of accumulated dirt.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5 it will be seen that the present inventive concept is susceptible of various modifications to conform the bag mouth to various cong-urations of the inlet tube. As therein shown, the tube 39 is of circular crossseetion and the sponge rubber or like bag end 3i is supported by an internally applied. cardboard ring 32 which may be secured by the staples 33. In this case the self-closing mouth flaps 34 are formed by right angularly intersecting cuts 35 extending across the member 3l from opposite sides of the ring 32. In applying this form of the invention, the tube 30 is inserted through the ring 32 pushing inwardly the aps so that they embrace and seal the bag to the tube as shown in Fig. 4. In some instances the bag is thus secured to the tube by frictional engagement oi the iiaps 38 and/or by frictional engagement of the ring 32 therewith. As in that form of the invention shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the removal of th-e tube permits the flaps 34 to flex into their normal position in the plane of the member 3! as shown in Fig. 5 to thus automatically close the bag mouth.

It will, of course, be understood that the invention is in no Way limited to the specific structure or details herein set forth and that the invention may be readily applied to various types of receptacles and numerous changes and modifications may be resorted to without departure from the spirit or scope of the invention as outlined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing forming a compartment having an opening for the insertion and removal of a dust separating receptacle, a cover for said opening, an inlet conduit extending through said cover and projecting into said compartment, a dust receiving receptacle insertable into said compartment and comprising a rigid wall portion formed with an aperture conforming in size and shape to the outer surface of said conduit, a sheet of self-sustaining resilient material secured to said Wall portion and overlying said aperture, said sheet being formed with -slits defining tongues extending over said aperture, the tongues being integral with the sheet and normally lying in the plane of the sheet with adjacent edges in abutting relationship to substantially close said aperture, said tongues being .displaceable out of the plane of said sheet by the insertion of said conduit in said aperture, the resilient material bending along lines deiined by the edges of said rigid Wall portion bounding said aperture and engaging the outer surface of said conduit to provide a seal between said surface and said Wall portion, and a bag-like member of filtering material secured to said Wall portion.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing forming a compartment having an opening for the insertion and removal of a dust separating receptacle, a cover for said opening, an inlet conduit extending through said cover and having a cylindrical portion projecting into said compartment, a dust receiving receptacle insertable into said compartment and comprising a rigid Wall portion formed with a circular aperture conforming in size and shape to the outer surface of the cylindrical portion of said conduit, a sheet of self-sustaining resilient material secured to said Wall portion and overlying said aperture, said sheet being formed with a plurality of radial slits intersecting near the center of said aperture and deiining a plurality of segment shaped tongues integral with the sheet and normally lying in the plane of the sheet with adjacent adges in abutting relationship to substantially close said aperture, said tongues being displaceable out of the plane of said sheet by the insertion of the cylindrical portion of said conduit into said aperture, the resilient material bending along lines dened by the circular edge of said rigid Wall portion bounding said aperture and engaging the outer surface of the cylindrical portion of said conduit to provide a seal between said surface and said wall portion, and a bag-like member of ltering material secured to said Wall portion.

EMU.. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 540,322 Leadbetter June 4, 1895 744,846 Williams Nov. 24, 1903 1,629,661 Gerhard May 24, 192'? 1,999,826 Snell Apr. 30, 1935 2,125,354 Meier Aug. 2, 1938 2,132,313 Namiki Oct. 4, 1938 2,272,394 Armstrong Feb. 10, 1942 2.388.279 Nuffer et al. Nov. 6. 1945 

